RT Journal Article
SR Electronic(1)
A1 Lefèvre, Thierry
A1 Gouagna, Louis-Clément
A1 Dabiré, Kounbrobr Roch
A1 Elguero, Eric
A1 Fontenille, Didier
A1 Renaud, François
A1 Costantini, Carlo
A1 Thomas, Frédéric
YR 2009
T1 Beyond Nature and Nurture: Phenotypic Plasticity in Blood-Feeding Behavior of Anopheles gambiae s.s. When Humans Are Not Readily Accessible
JF The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,
VO 81
IS 6
SP 1023
OP 1029
DO https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2009.09-0124
PB The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,
SN 0002-9637,
AB To test for the effects of host accessibility on blood-feeding behavior, we assessed degrees of anthropophily of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae at two stages of the behavioral sequence of host foraging, in a rice growing area near Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, where humans are not readily accessible because of years of generalized use of (mostly non-impregnated) bed nets. First, patterns of host selection were assessed by the identification of the blood meal origin of indoor-resting samples. Inherent host preferences were then determined by two odor-baited entry traps, set side by side in a choice arrangement, releasing either human or calf odor. The proportion of feeds taken on humans was around 40%, whereas 88% of trapped An. gambiae “chose” the human-baited trap, indicating a zoophilic pattern of host selection despite a stronger trap entry response with human odor. This paradox can be interpreted as the evolution of a plastic strategy of feeding behavior in this field population of An. gambiae because of the greater accessibility of readily available, although less-preferred, hosts.,
UL http://www.ajtmh.org/content/journals/10.4269/ajtmh.2009.09-0124